Homemade Butter

Time Needed: 5 minutes if using a mixer, 20-30 if doing by hand
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: heavy whipping cream, cheese cloth
Directions: Put the whipping cream in a bowl, if using a mixer. If mixing by hand, put in a container that seals completely, and shake. Mix until the milk solids separate from the liquids. Pour out the liquid (which is, by the way, buttermilk, and is a wonderful ingredient for other recipes, so don't throw it out) and put the liquids in the cheese cloth. Squeeze the butter out, using the cheese cloth as a barrier between you and the butter. This will get the excess buttermilk out. Store in the fridge or freezer, and enjoy!

Note: This is for unsalted butter. If you prefer salted butter, just add a pinch of salt when you start the mixing process.

Half and Half Bread

Time Needed: 5-15 minutes
Level of difficulty: intermediate
Materials needed: 2 packages yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2/3 cup honey or brown sugar, 2/3 cup vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons salt, 5 cups warm water, 7 cups wheat flour, 7 cups white flour, 4 greased loaf pans, kitchen towel
Directions: Combine yeast, 1/2 cup water, and sugar and set aside to develop. Meanwhile, combine honey/brown sugar, oil, salt, and 5 cups water. Add all the wheat flour and mix thoroughly. Add developed yeast mixture and mix. Add the white flour 2-3 cups at a time. Knead for 10 minutes and then let rise until double (I let them rise in a cold oven with a towel on top - this keeps the temperature level and keeps moisture in). Once risen, punch down and shape into 4 loaves (this is hwy you've used so much flour!), which you will place in your greased loaf pans. Let this mix for 25-30 minutes, covered with a towel. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Once done, cool loaves on a cooling rack. While cooling, you are welcome to brush the tops with butter or oil to increase sheen and slightly increase flavor, but it's awesome without it.

Disclaimer: I have a friend who does NOT eat any carbs. This has been her rule for years, starting even before the Atkins craze. I made her a loaf for her kids. When her daughter opened the package I'd put the bread in, my friend said the smell was so intoxicating, she had to try it. She said the crust was crispy and the inside was so soft. She said that before she knew it, she'd eaten half of the loaf herself! Now if that's not a vote of confidence for the recipe, I don't know what is!

Strawberry Peach Freezer Jam

Time Needed: 15 minutes (plus 24 hours of sitting)
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: 2 cups crushed strawberries, 1 1/2 cups crushed peaches (I throw both in the blender to crush), 7 cups sugar, 3/4 cup water, 1 package pectin (such as Sure Jell), 6 or so pint-sized Tupperware containers with lids
Directions: Combine your fruit mix and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. Once that's had time to marinate, boil your water. Once it's boiling, add the pectin and boil for one minute. Then, add to the fruit and stir for 3 minutes. Put in freezer safe Tupperware and let sit on your counter for 24 hours. Then put one in your fridge and the rest in your freezer. Woo hoo!

Variations: This is obviously a VERY basic recipe. It's amazing with any fruit by itself or any combination you can think of. Besides strawberry peach (which is our ultimate fave), we love strawberry, raspberry, peach, and mixed berry. For just berries, I'd go with 4 cups of berries total.

Sushi - A Beginner's Guide

Do not be alarmed - this isn't nearly as hard as it looks!
Time Needed: 5-15 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy to intermediate
Materials needed: short grain rice (cooked), sushi vinegar, nori (seaweed wraps), plastic wrap, plastic gloves, water, cucumber (sliced), carrots (sliced), cream cheese (sliced), avocado (sliced), crab (sliced), sharp knife
Directions: Once the rice has cooled to the point where you can stick your hands in it, add about a tablespoon of sushi vinegar per two cups rice to your rice and mix together. Then, lay a sheet of nori on the plastic wrap with the rough side down. Put on the gloves and spread a thin layer of rice over the nori, leaving a 1/4 inch spot untouched at the top. You'll want to really pack that rice down, and thinner layers of rice wrap better. Then, at the bottom end, layer the cucumber, carrots, cream cheese, avocado, and crab in a thin line. This is where it might get a bit tricky. Take the plastic wrap and use it to help fold the bottom over the veggie layer. Then, pull it back so that it is tight. Continue rolling up the length of the nori (the rice should make it stick together), using the plastic wrap to keep things in place. When you get to the end with no rice, take a tiny bit of water to just dampen this edge (think licking an envelope amount of water). Continue finishing the roll (the water will seal the end). Use your very sharp knife to cut the roll into individual pieces, and enjoy.
Notes:

• Don't think you like sushi? It's rice and veggies at this stage. If you like those, you'll like sushi. The seaweed flavor is actually very good and very minimal.
  
• Don't ever make raw fish sushi at home. Restaurants who do this are trained and know what they're doing. They have ideal situations and are specialized. Don't risk it and make yourself sick.
• Another good ingredient is tomago, or a scrambled egg mixed with a little soy sauce and sugar. Cook like an omelet, slice, and add to your roll.
• Cooked shrimp, whether purchased cooked or bought and fried in tempura batter, is an excellent addition as well.
• We use imitation krab and love it. Real crab is great, but is expensive. Don't use canned crab - it's terrible.
• If you're feeling REALLY brave, go buy unagi at your local Asian market. It's eel. If cooked, it's actually really good.
• This is fun to mix and match. Add sesame seeds, try brown rice, add spicy mayo, do whatever you want. It's also a fun party activity to have everyone help prepare the ingredients and make their own rolls.
• When you cut the rolls, stuff is gonna poke out the ends. No worries - it's a snack for the chef! Plus, sushi chefs use these pieces to liven up their place settings.
  
• Don't be intimidated - it's fun and really easy once you get the hang of it. The caterpillar looking roll we made is from just playing around and being creative. You'll notice the rest are very plain. Experiment and have fun with it!
  

Flavors of Fall Door Wreath

Time Needed: 5 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: woven wreath, 3-4 clumps of false foliage of your choice, pliers, wire cutters, floral arrangement wireDirections: Clip off any excess length from your clumps of foliage. Stick the foliage into the woven twigs so they start to weave in to the design as well. Then, take the wire and wrap it around one twig near the base of your design. Then, wrap the wire up the design in a spiral, leaving about an inch between each coil. Be sure the wire is hidden in the foliage so it can't be seen. Once it's all wrapped, tie off the wire as before, and clip off. Add any extra wire where things need to be more sturdy.

Helpful Hint: I bought my woven wreath, wire and foliage at Dollar Tree. Because the foliage was 2 for $1, the whole project cost me $3.50. How sweet is that?

90 Minute Cinnimon Rolls

Time Needed: 90 minutes (hence, the post name)
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup margarine, softened, 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup water, 1 egg, 1 cup brown sugar, packed, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 cup margarine, softened, 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

For your information:
yield: 12
original recipe found at allrecipes.com

Directions

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, softened margarine.
4. Roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with margarine/sugar mixture. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 12 lightly greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Remove from muffin cups to cool. Serve warm

Notes

The recipe yields 12 rolls. If you need more/less, the website that I've linked above has a feature that will do all of the conversions for you, which I think is awesome.

Instead of raisins, I put in an apple, which I peeled and diced. This I sprinkled atop the cinnamon. Apples and cinnamon are a delicious combo anyway, and the apples make for a really moist cinnamon roll. While this recipe may be new, the use of apples is definitely an old trick of mine.

When cutting the rolls to place in the muffin tin, I find it helpful to cut the whole thing in half at first, then cut the halfs in half, then cut those into thirds. This helps me to ensure the rolls are roughly the same size rather than just going for it and ending up with all sorts of odd shapes.

I recommend setting the muffin tin atop a cookie sheet. Why? Well, the cinnamon sugar mixture likes to get all bubbly and ooze out. Rather than having this hit my oven floor and start a smoke/fire extravaganza, I will deign to clean another pan.

The recipe doesn't have frosting listed anywhere. The rolls are good, but come on. Cinnamon rolls without icing? Yeah right. I did a cream cheese frosting, which is basically made with a splash of vanilla, a somewhat larger splash of milk, 1/2 packet of cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat kind personally) softened, and as much powdered sugar as it takes to make that stuff the consistency you want. This I beat with the hand mixer till I feel good about it. Use whatever frosting you'd like, or look one up online - there's about a bajillion of them.

I used butter rather than margarine in my recipe because I like butter better for baking, and they turned out great. However, since the original calls for margarine, I'm gonna go with you're safe to use either one and have a delicious, quick, easy to do end product.

Bagel Re-Mix

You will, I'm sure, remember the bagels I made a few months ago. That time, they were white flour bagels and bagels topped with asiago cheese. And they were inhaled and enjoyed and have become a favorite in our house.

Well, I've been experimenting a bit lately. This post, though it is about bagels again, is about how to do a few variations that I've been having fun with.

Variation 1: Whole Wheat Bagels

Just switch out your bread flour for wheat flour. You'll probably use a few more tablespoons of water, but that's no big deal. Not ready for whole wheat but still want to include more whole wheat in your diet? Well, go half and half! Just substitute half of the bread flour for wheat flour.

Variation 2: Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

Substitute 3 T of flour for 3 T of cinnamon. Then, before you add the water, pour in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of raisins (or as many as you feel like). Stir all the dry ingredients together, then add the water and prepare as per the original recipe.

PS: Here's a link to the original recipe on hubpages.